Kid Proofing an Android Tablet

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

I bought some android tablets (android 4.4) for my nieces/nephew that were posted in the HD subforum.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2409322

Can anyone give me some up to date info on making the tablets kid proof? Should I create a google account and use the same for all 3 tablets or let their parents use their accounts?

Is a restricted profile enough or do you guys recommend some kind of sandbox software? how do we restrict web access?

any other tips?

 

[quikah]

I am curious as well. Haven't used android much beyond 4.2. I am guessing you are going to need to get a 3rd party app like Net Nanny (has a subscription fee)?

Windows tablets have this pretty well baked in, including time limits/curfews which is nice.

 

[Silenus]

I bought some android tablets (android 4.4) for my nieces/nephew that were posted in the HD subforum.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2409322

Can anyone give me some up to date info on making the tablets kid proof? Should I create a google account and use the same for all 3 tablets or let their parents use their accounts?

Is a restricted profile enough or do you guys recommend some kind of sandbox software? how do we restrict web access?

any other tips?

You don't need anything else but restricted profile. It has been great for my 3 (now 4) year old. On each tablet you set up one primary 'admin' account. This is the account that will access the play store and download/purchase apps. You can decide whether you want to create a special account and use across all three, or let parents use their own accounts...but either way it's the master admin account is the one that will actually GET the apps/content and the only account that can actually install system updates too.

You need to have some kind of pattern or pin lock on the admin account and then set up a restricted profile, which acts simply a restricted subset of the admin but also can have it own media, photos, user data, ect separated from the other users. You simply toggle on the apps you want to show up, that's it. If you don't toggle on any browser, they won't have internet access. Play store access AND any in app purchases are also completely locked out. Super easy and been working well for me for over a year. One of the best things added to Android in years IMO (and multi user in general, makes sharing a tablet so easy)

 

[Kaido]

I'll quote what I posted in Hot Deals:

How deep do you want to go? The best I've found is SureLock for Android, but it's $50 per license:

http://www.42gears.com/surelock/surelockandroid.html

It basically locks EVERYTHING out of the screen (swipe-down notification center, settings button, etc.). You can customize the background wallpaper and which icons are on the homescreen. It's basically kiosk mode - zero access to anything, except what you authorize. Really great for kids because there's nothing they can screw up in the software that way. Downside is the software costs as much as the tablet does.

Note that the license is activated online, so it's one license per device. It is NOT a cheap option, but it's the most effective option I've found for locking everything out & making it completely kid-proof. I use them in a lot of work projects - you can put a custom company logo wallpaper on it & just add icons for the apps they specifically want the users to have access to, and literally nothing else.

 

[Kaido]

You don't need anything else but restricted profile. It has been great for my 3 (now 4) year old. On each tablet you set up one primary 'admin' account. This is the account that will access the play store and download/purchase apps. You can decide whether you want to create a special account and use across all three, or let parents use their own accounts...but either way it's the master admin account is the one that will actually GET the apps/content and the only account that can actually install system updates too.

You need to have some kind of pattern or pin lock on the admin account and then set up a restricted profile, which acts simply a restricted subset of the admin but also can have it own media, photos, user data, ect separated from the other users. You simply toggle on the apps you want to show up, that's it. If you don't toggle on any browser, they won't have internet access. Play store access AND any in app purchases are also completely locked out. Super easy and been working well for me for over a year. One of the best things added to Android in years IMO (and multi user in general, makes sharing a tablet so easy)

Are restricted profiles a function of a certain version of Android? That's pretty cool!

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll probably open one of the tablets up and play around with the restricted profile settings.

 

[Silenus]

Are restricted profiles a function of a certain version of Android? That's pretty cool!

Yes, it came with Android 4.3, but it is only on tablets. Android 5.0 has brought multi user and guest accounts to phones as well...but no restricted profile for phones.

 

[ultimatebob]

I was using something called Kid Mode on my Android tablet. It disables getting to the home screen with the Home button and then getting into other apps, which was my biggest problem my kiddo was running into.

It's free, but there is a subscription service that adds a lot more features.